Martin Rothschink, author of the popular Light-Out add-in for WHS v1 and WHS 2011, has written to tell us that he now has a public beta of Lights-Out available and it will also run on Windows 7 or Windows 8 machines. Read on for details.

Martin Rothschink, author of the popular Light-Out add-in for WHS v1 and WHS 2011, has written to tell us that he now has a public beta of Lights-Out available and it will also run on Windows 7 or Windows 8 machines. First of all, what is Lights-Out?

Lights-Out enhances a Windows Server Solution in these areas:

Power management, to run your server on demand

Client backup, to run a scheduled backup and use Wake-On-Lan

Uptime chart, to give a graphical overview of device activity in your network

The Ceton “Echo” is a next-generation Media Center Extender and the first to support Internet video services and Internet browsing, along with live and recorded high-definition TV services and access to your personal digital media libraries. Ceton “Echo” allows you to stream media from a Ceton “Q” entertainment gateway or a Windows 7-based PC to both high-definition and standard-definition TV sets over your home network.

This is the updated that Ceton posted on their blog today:

Today we are informing the folks who have been selected to participate in the Ceton “Echo” beta program. It’s an exciting next step on the path to launching the Echo later this year. Those selected have been notified by email from us at beta@cetoncorp.com. We received thousands of beta applications but only have about 1,000 beta slots available, so we weren’t able to accommodate everyone who signed up unfortunately. We did our best to ensure we have a great pool of testers who represent the Echo customer base at large. Echo beta units will ship to testers in September. The Echo will be available from a variety of retailers for general consumer purchase in time for the 2012 holiday shopping season at a suggested retail price of $179.00. The Echo will be available in the US to start, with expansion to select international markets over time. We’ll provide more details on our US launch date and international plans later on.

Is this something you might be interested in buying? If so, let us know by leaving a comment below.

[button link=”http://cetoncorp.com/products/echo/”]Learn more about the Ceton Echo here[/button]

The Windows team has continued to work in lock step with external hardware partners to fully embrace the experience we want for Windows 8. New Windows 8 PCs are coming, and while that is not a topic for this post, we at Microsoft are excited with what our hardware partners have in store for you.

It’s worth reinforcing that Windows 8 will run on the hardware available today, and we are committed to making sure that happens. So you should feel confidence in installing the Consumer Preview on the machines that you own today. However, as much as we value compatibility, we also have to balance this with making Windows 8 really shine on new Windows 8 PCs. We’d like to provide you with some perspective on our efforts and how we will achieve this.

Making sure Windows 8 works on your Windows 7 PC

At the //build/ conference we introduced a set of touch interactions that make up the Windows 8 touch language. These core interactions form the basis of the Windows 8 user interface, and are reused heavily in the application frameworks within our common controls and samples. The primary goal of our touch language is to promote ease-of-use and ensure user confidence. By confidence, we mean that all touch interactions work consistently and reliably all the time. Developers who consume our controls will automatically feature this language in their applications when they re-use the common controls or use the samples, and in doing so, they also minimize any learning required for users.

The Fujitsu STYLISTIC Q550 is the first Slate PC that will really work for you whether you are a prosumer, work in business, government or SME. It combines a brilliant display with precise and pressure sensitive pen input plus a touch screen for multiple touch input. It brings you the ideal tools for creating data and collaborating. The Windows® 7 operating system integrates perfectly with your existing IT infrastructure and enables hardware based security to meet your most stringent requirements. Its a Slate PC that works for your business!

Who are Fuijtsu?

From the Fujitsu website:

Fujitsu UK and Ireland is a leading IT systems, services and products company employing 11,400 people with an annual revenue of £1.7 billion. Its business is in enabling its customers to realise their objectives by exploiting information technology through its integrated product and service portfolio. This includes consulting, applications, systems integration, managed services and product for customers in the private and public sectors including retail, financial services, telecoms, government, defence and consumer sectors.

Fujitsu in the UK is part of the global Fujitsu Group, delivering IT-based business solutions to customers in 70 countries through a workforce of 170,000 employees. Our regional structure enables customers to share in best-practice approaches, knowledge and re-use from around the world whilst local operations ensure that solutions are delivered in line with local customer requirements.

Ready for a whole new way to navigate your PC? Touch Mouse, made exclusively for Windows 7, makes everyday task more fluid and intuitive by using natural gestures instead of clicks. You’ll be more productive, with less effort.

The Touch Mouse enables you to use your multiple finger gestures to perform certain tasks with ease, such as snapping windows side by side, and because of the BlueTrak technology you can use it on pretty much any surface.

Microsoft have just released a new add-in for Small Business Server 2011 Essentials. This one is the Windows 7 Professional Pack.

This is what Microsoft posted on their blog today:

Today we are happy to announce that we have released the Windows 7 Professional pack for Windows Small Business Server 2011 EssentialsAdd-In and soon our customers will be able to download it through Microsoft’s Download Center.

One of small businesses’ most pressing needs and requests is advanced security of their IT infrastructure and, when Windows 7 Professional and Windows SBS 2011 Essentials work together, they offer our customers a cutting edge solution to help safeguard the security of their information and the control of their PC’s.

The Windows 7 Pro Pack is a free add-in designed exclusively for Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials. It is easy to set up and manage, especially with limited IT skills and resources, and was designed to improve and further the interoperability between these two products, thus providing small organizations with a best of class solution for IT security and protection.

The Pro Pack can be quickly deployed in each Windows 7 Professional computer in the domain from the “Computers and Backup” tab in the Dashboard, and it allows administrators to deploy pre-configured security settings, folder redirection and offline files. The group policies apply to all SBS domain users running Windows 7 Professional or higher.

With the Windows 7 Professional Pack our customers can easily deploy pre-configured security settings across several different areas like allowing Windows Update to install the latest security patches and critical updates, using Windows Defender to protect against malware attacks and preventing users from exposing the network to attack by enforcing the use of Windows Firewall.

Many small business users are also used to working without a server and storing all their business critical and sensitive information on their local computers. This habit increases the risk of losing critical data, should the local computer be lost or should it suffer a critical hardware malfunction. While SBS 2011 Essentials provides full client backup out of the box, this solution may not meet the needs for mobile or laptop users who take the PC’s out of the office. Client backup relies on having the PC on the local domain during the backup window (usually after business hours).

With folder redirection the Pro Pack helps small businesses protect the data stored on their client computers. Folder redirection is designed to allow users to continue working in the same way saving their data in real time on their client computer, but reduces the risk of data loss by having the most important data on a particular computer automatically redirected, stored and protected on the server (when on the local domain). This way, even if the client computer is lost or suffers critical damage, is it still possible to access the latest set of data on the server when the client has not been backed up recently. Best of all, when users edit local data when away from the network, any small business can ensure that when the PC is back on the local network, updated information is immediately replicated to the server and protected.

If you would like to know more, you can find here a video that contains a complete demo of the Windows 7 Pro Pack and shows its easiness of use.

So, if you are worried about your organization’s security, do not wait a second. Connect with one of our tens of thousands of partners worldwide and learn more in detail what Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials and Windows 7 Pro can, together, do for you.

Working with Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

Well you didn’t think I would miss an opportunity to plug my next book would you? I am working together with Charlie Russell and Sharon Crawford on an SBS 2011 Essentials book.

Microsoft have just released a new Learning Bites video for Windows Home Server 2011. This one is all about Homegroup.

Windows Home Server 2011 empowers your home network with “Always-on” access to all your files, both in your home and away from your home. Homegroup provides a quick and easy way to enable the sharing of files with-in your home amongst all your Windows 7 PCs. In this Learning Bites video, you are shown how to enable HomeGroup on Windows Home Server 2011 and how to take advantage of some of the more advanced HomeGroup features, such as PlayTo.

Lenovo have announced a new Windows 7 tablet called the IdeaPad Tablet P1.

Lenovo’s 10.1” IdeaPad Tablet P1 with Microsoft Windows 7 features a 1.5GHz Intel processor so users can be more productive with Office* documents, or get creative with photos while on the move.

The IdeaPad Tablet P1 boasts a multitouch touchscreen display and optional stylus pen for added flexibility, easy access to Web content thanks to full Adobe Flash Player support and HD playback, and Microsoft Security Essentials for an extra layer of security. At just 14.5mm thin and weighing less than 2lbs, the IdeaPad Tablet P1 with Windows 7 offers portability, power and versatility for the office, in the home and on-the-go.

The flexible tablet features the power of Windows 7 with the performance of Intel Inside.

Fujitsu have just launched a Windows 7 slate aimed at businesses called the STYLISTIC Q550. And we get some hands-on time with it.

Obviously this slate is aimed at business users, you can tell that when you look at the host of security related features such as the fingerprint reader, disk encryption and smartcard reader! It doesn’t mean however that users outside of the business wouldn’t want to play with on. I have to say I really liked it and I look forward to a longer term test.

Specifications

Windows 7 Professional (32 bit edition)

10.1 inch anti-glare display (with a viewing angle of up to 170 degrees)

30GB or 60GB SSD with full disk encryption support

800 grams weight

Fingerprint scanner

SmartCard Reader

optional TPM module

Up to 8 hours of battery life

Bluetooth

Front and rear cameras

SD card slot

Costs

There are three models:

The 30GB WiFi model is £749

The 30GB 3G model is £799

and the 62GB 3G model is £859.

The 30GB WiFi model is out now and the two 3G models will be out some time in August.

A Closer Look

Let’s have a closer look at the Q550.

It has a full size HDMI port on it for connecting to monitors, tv’s and projectors.

ExpressCache from Diskeeper improves PC speeds by incorporating Solid State Drive (SSD) technology advances into a Windows 7 system to provide near-instantaneous access to the most frequently accessed data.

Comprised of User mode and Kernel Mode components, ExpressCache uses the SSD as an intelligent cache, coupled with an HDD, to improve overall system performance and greatly speed up Windows PC startup, application launches and data access speed.

Features

· Reduces boot times by up to 60%+ and keeps them optimum for the life of the system

· Intelligent automatic caching of the applications and data that the user needs

· Ability to preload applications in cache for optimal first use performance

· Selectable quantity of SSD storage to be used

· Compatible with other Windows applications as it operates as a Windows component

· Monitors application I/O activity, cache use and cache hit rates and adjusts caching to maintain maximum application performance from the amount of SSD storage available

· Maintains full safety and integrity of all data in event of SSD failure or removal, as well as unclean shutdowns resulting from power outages

· Operates automatically, invisibly and silently in the background, with no user interaction required

Benefits

· Any combination of SSD and HDD can be used, making it a far more flexible solution than Hybrid Hard Drives. Individual components can be upgraded independent of the other

· ExpressCache increases file system performance while maintaining the full safety and integrity of all system data

· ExpressCache provides superior overall performance than SSD systems at a fraction of the cost

ExpressCache is available for license to OEMs and computer manufacturers for broad scale deployment in 2011, so expect to see it on a laptop near you very soon! I think this looks very interesting and we will bring you more on this in the near future.

In the latest episode of BYOB we talk about bootable devices, the boot sequence and give you a brief overview of the Windows Home Server Restore process. Read on to find out how bootable devices are the key to starting your computers operating system and check out the podcast to find out how Windows Home Server makes the Restore process easy.

Boot Devices – A Supplement to BYOB Podcast #39

When you press the PC power button, your computer will go through the BIOS start up. The BIOS runs POST (power on self-test) and then looks for a storage device that that is bootable. Once it finds a device that is bootable it loads the boot sector. The MBR code then looks at the partition table for an active bootable partition. Once it finds an active partition, the MBR code loads the boot sector code which loads the operating system kernel. The kernel is the central component of the OS and is a bridge between the software and the hardware processing.

Without the device being bootable you are a “no go” for Windows!

For us Windows 7 users, once the boot sector code loads, it loads the Windows Boot Manager (BOOTMGR). The BOOTMGR is what looks for the active partition and uses Boot Configuration Data (BCD) to load Windows.

The BCD is just a database that contains menu entries. These entries load Windows, resume Windows and the like. The BCD is used by Windows Boot Manager and is the new version of the boot.ini that is used by NT Loader. NTLDR is used by XP machines and by your Windows Home Server v1. You cannot see these files by default and should not make changes to them.

The graphic below shows the hidden files in Windows Home Server v1.

So back to Windows Boot Manager…with Windows Vista and later, winload.exe loads the Windows kernel and the device drivers. The same goes for the latest Windows operating systems. Do not mess with the hidden system files.